Skip to main content

Nicol: You win some, you lose some

After a semi-final defeat on home soil, world No.1 Nicol David will look to stamp her class at the Hong Kong Open this week.
After a semi-final defeat on home soil, world No.1 Nicol David will look to stamp her class at the Hong Kong Open this week. 

PETALING JAYA: Let’s face it, Nicol David is not going to win every single tournament she competes in.

That was evident from the recently concluded Malaysian Open as the world No.1, fresh from winning a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier this month, was unable to lift her game and lost to eventual winner Raneem El Weleily of Egypt in the semi-finals.

It certainly comes as a shock as Malaysians are not used to watching Nicol lose in her own backyard. But last Friday’s defeat is Nicol’s fourth on home soil since the 2012 Malaysian Open final – also to Raneem.

It will be unfair to say that the Penangite, who turns 31 tomorrow, has suffered a dropped in her performance as she has always played with a very high intensity.
With Nicol having set such high standards in the game, the catch-up pack, featuring a host of young Egyptians are closing in on her.

A tight Women’s Squash Association (WSA) Tour schedule is not helping Nicol either as she is competing in the Hong Kong Open which started yesterday, the Asian Games (Sept 19-Oct 4), the US Open (Oct 9-18) and the Macau Open (Oct 20-26).

Nicol however offered no excuses for her defeat at the Malaysian Open.

“A defeat is a defeat and there is nothing much I can do about that except to train harder and come back stronger,” said the seven-time world champion.

“It’s definitely disappointing to lose in the Malaysian Open but it’s fairplay to Raneem. She took her chances well. It’s obviously a very long season ahead and the Malaysian Open is just the start. For me it’s all about choosing and peaking at the right tournament.

Nicol have won the Hong Kong Open nine consecutine times and will meet a qualifier in the first round tomorrow.

National No. 2 Low Wee Wern will take on local player Tong Tsz Wing in the first round. A win will pit the 24-year-old against Malaysian Open runner-up Nour El Tayeb of Egypt.


by Kng Zheng Guan - The Star

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...
1 comment
Read more

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...
4 comments
Read more